Hurricane Helene sure tried hard to ruin the 28th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals, held at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) outside St. Louis, MO the final weekend of September. High winds and rain caused all of Friday’s activities to be cancelled for the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Congruity Pro Mod Drag Racing Series and Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Tents were folded, haulers closed and racers spent much of the day discussing what they planned to do once the skies cleared.
Removing two rounds of qualifying for the Countdown to the Championship contenders, competing in their third straight weekend of racing in the six-race playoff series was going to cause issues for everyone. The first Friday session is noted for finding the condition of the dragstrip, the second to set a night-time fast lap as insurance in case there are issues on Saturday. That wasn’t possible as weather conditions, especially those high winds, ruled the day.
Once racing finally got underway, there were some familiar faces atop the qualifying sheets. And some unfamiliar ones, as well. Proving he continues to be one of the quickest and fastest part-time racers in current straight-line racing, T.J. Zizzo earned the No. 1 in Top Fuel with his 3.714-second pass at 327.66 mph, for his second No. 1 of the 2024 campaign. Austin Prock and his John Force Racing (JFR) Chevrolet Camaro SS picked up their 12th No. 1 by setting the fastest lap in Funny Car, 3.836 seconds at 330.72 mph, just missing Robert Hight’s 2017 track record as he substitutes for medically excused Hight.
Six-time champ Erica Enders ruled Pro Stock on Saturday with her Elite Motorsports Camaro, taking her seventh No. 1 of the 17-race season at 6.565 seconds at 208.01 mph, and Gaige Herrera brought his Vance & Hines Suzuki Hayabusa3 to the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladders, for his seventh No. 1 of the season, taking a run down the quarter-mile at 6.796 seconds at 197.74 mph on a day when sell-out crowds jammed the circuit.
Nearly everything changed on Sunday as it normally seems to do in drag racing. After four rounds of eliminations, eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher held his 88th Wally winner’s trophy aloft, a boost as he contemplates a ninth series title. In the final round, racing four-time champ Steve Torrence, Schumacher recovered from a leisurely reaction time of .071 to post a 3.718 second pass at 329.42 mph, while Torrence’s .036-sec RT resulted in .0107 of a second loss at 3.763/316.90. Earning his second win of the year, Schumacher moved from ninth to sixth in the standings.
Schumacher was seeded second in this competition – for the fourth time this season – and up against one of four female Top Fuel drivers in the first round, true rookie Julie Nataas making her first Top Fuel start with Scrappers Racing. NHRA’s four woman dragster qualifiers was and is a record for the class; only two-time champ Brittany Force made it out of the first round. Parked after the first round were Ida Zetterstrom, Schumacher’s stablemate, Jasmine Salinas, Nataas’ teammate and Nataas. In the second round Schumacher stopped Antron Brown from taking his third straight victory in this six-race playoff series, and he halted Shawn Reed in the semifinals to meet Torrence for the last fight of the day.
“This win is fantastic and a major morale boost,” Schumacher said after becoming a three-time winner at WWTR. “I’m covered in champagne, which is the best way to end a race day. Let’s face it,” he admitted, “we didn’t have a great car for three years and we tried to find our problem. We found it in Brainerd and I was vocal about that. We’ve been getting better and quicker, and better and quicker, ever since.”
Despite leaving in the second round, Brown continues to lead Top Fuel’s points standings, with Justin Ashley second, Kalitta Motorsports’ Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta behind him, followed by Steve Torrence, Tony Schumacher, Clay Millican, Brittany Force, Tony Stewart and Billy Torrence. There’s a tight gap of 231 points from first to tenth.
While Austin Prock was primed to give his mom a Wally winner’s trophy for her Sunday birthday, Jill Prock will have to wait until next year. The win did stay within the John Force Racing team, though, as John Force’s substitute racer, Jack Beckman earned his first Funny Car victory since 2020 at Texas Motorplex, when he raced his then-teammate Matt Hagan at Don Schumacher Racing. This was Beckman’s fifth start in relief of the 16-time NHRA Funny Car titleholder; he drove his Chevrolet Camaro SS past the Toyota GR Supra of three-time champ Ron Capps in the final round, logging 3.856 seconds at 315.86 to defeat Capps’ 3.882/329.42.
Attempting to secure a 17th title for Force, who was in second place before his June 23 crash at Virginia Motorsports Park that resulted in a traumatic brain injury (TBI), Beckman ended his teammate’s three-race win streak that began at the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. Relegated to the less-preferable right lane, Beckman held off a charging Capps to gain a .012 margin of victory. It wasn’t as straight-forward as it looked, either, as “We cracked the body in the first round, and the guys deemed it better to bring a backup body out than to try and patch that one and have to fix it again in the shop.
“We lost lane choice for the semifinals [against Prock],” Beckman mused. “That’s a tough one because the eight lane was a bit finicky for a lot of cars this weekend… but we went right down there and that gave me a lot more confidence going into the final round – and we got it done!” As he gained his 34th Funny Car Wally trophy and third at this track, “We actually made a monster lap in the final. That was fantastic to see our guys turn the screws up and get more aggressive with it, because that comes from confidence. When you have a lot of confidence in the parts and equipment and tune-u, you just lean on it. We leaned on it!” Beckman was prepared to return to his “day job” Tuesday as an elevator repair technician.
With this victory, the Force/Beckman entry returns to second place in the points, which is where John Force stood before his accident. Bob Tasca III’s Ford Mustang, Ron Capps, Matt Hagan’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, J.R. Todd’s Toyota GR Supra, Blake Alexander, Daniel Wilkerson, Chad Green (these three drivers racing Ford Mustangs) and Alexis DeJoria’s Toyota GR Supra complete the top 10, with a 309-point difference from first through tenth.
The Pro Stock war between KB Titan Racing and Elite Motorsports continued through this weekend, as the final round came down to two regular protagonists: KB Titan’s Dallas Glenn against Elite’s Aaron Stanfield. It was the second straight weekend these two battled in the final round and the second straight weekend Glenn got the better of Stanfield, racing down the quarter-mile track at 6.577 seconds for a speed of 207.82, getting past Stanfield’s 6.586 at 206.01. Both young drivers are fighting for a first championship and, while they’ve got nearly 100 points in hand over six-time Elite Motorsports champ Erica Enders in third, this race isn’t over yet!
Glenn raced fellow KB Titan teammate Camrie Caruso in the first round, eliminated Mason McGaha in the quarterfinals and put KB Titan team leader Greg Anderson on the trailer to face Stanfield in the final round. With his .010-second reaction time, Glenn earned his 13th career victory on Sunday. “Wins in the Countdown are harder than wins during the regular season,” he admitted. “Everybody steps up their game, the points matter more and everybody brings their best stuff. Everything just gets tighter and more difficult.” While he has two wins and a semifinal result in this six-race playoffs, “I barely have a round and a half lead,” Glenn emphasized. “It’s definitely a lot tighter than I would like right now, but Aaron does a fantastic job. He’s a great driver and I’m sure he’s going to be real tough for the remainder of the Countdown.”
This battle for the 2024 Mission Foods Pro Stock title has Chevy Camaro drivers Glenn, Stanfield, Enders and Anderson first through fourth, separated by 116 points, followed by Elite’s Jeg Coughlin Jr., Cristian Cuadra (with a Ford Mustang body), Jerry Tucker and Troy Coughlin Jr. behind them, with KB Titan’s Matt Hartford and Eric Latino completing the top 10, with a lag of 310 points from first to tenth.
After losing to Matt Smith and Hector Arana Jr. the past two races, Gaige Herrera became the sole No. 1 qualifier at WWTR to make it through four rounds of eliminations and earn the Pro Stock Motorcycle race win on his Vance & Hines Motorsports Suzuki Hayabusa3 motorcycle. With his Sunday victory, Herrera regained the points lead after earning his eighth victory of the season. Racing fellow Suzuki rider Chase Van Sant of WAR Racing, Herrera’s lap over the quarter-mile of 6.805 seconds at 198.12 mph defeated the sophomore’s 6.868 sec run at 195.53 mph. While Van Sant was quicker off the line, Herrera was able to chase him down and cross the finish line first.
Herrera qualified No. 1 on Saturday and his four rounds on Sunday were between 6.797 and 6.813 seconds as he earned his 19th career victory and second straight at this track. “This means a lot,” Herrera admitted. “St. Louis is the halfway point in the Countdown, and to leave here with the points lead and get the win just gives me and the whole team a big boost going into Dallas and the rest of the races. If you don’t do well here, it sets you back and puts you in a different midset. It brings me a lot of confidence and I’m looking forward to going to Dallas. We’re leaving [here] with a lot of confidence.”
With Matt Smith’s quarterfinal departure at the hands of 2003 Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Geno Scali’s V&H Suzuki, the points chase shows Herrera in the lead, followed by Matt Smith’s Buell, Richard Gadson’s V&H Suzuki, Hector Arana Jr.’s Buell, Chase Van Sant’s Suzuki, Angie Smith’s Buell, John Hall’s Buell, Jianna Evaristo’s Buell, Steve Johnson and Chris Bostick, both riding Suzuki motorcycles. There’s a gap of 308 points between first and tenth.
The first weekend of October gives the NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series racers a little time to prep for the 39th Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex outside Dallas in two weeks, set for October 9-13. The track’s Stampede of Speed takes more than a week to conduct and leads to four days of NHRA racing on the central Texas track.
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